America: Land Of Liberty
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone). Honoring Congressman John Dingell on His Retirement Mr. Speaker, it was a privilege to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey on behalf of our colleague who set a…
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).
Honoring Congressman John Dingell on His Retirement
Mr. Speaker, it was a privilege to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey on behalf of our colleague who set a historical record of serving this Chamber and the people of his district so well for 60 years.
And it is a privilege for me now also, Mr. Speaker, to be in this well to deliver what is my last speech on this floor.
It has been the privilege and the honor of a lifetime for me to serve as a Member of the United States Congress, serving as the first woman ever elected from the State of Minnesota in the capacity of being a Republican. It is an honor, and it is the ride of a lifetime. As I stand here in the well of this House, I am so filled with joy and so much happiness in understanding that the privilege I have is one of being really a link on a chain that has gone on for hundreds of years.
I stand right here on the soil, in the square feet that are the freest square feet in the world because you see, Mr. Speaker, it is here where any voice that holds an election certificate can speak forth the words, words that maybe a President of the United States would vehemently agree with, disagree with, words that maybe colleagues from one's own party and the opposing party may vehemently disagree with, words that in some sense might incent people to anger or to even riot in some cases, but words, nonetheless, that are free--free, free-- because a price was paid so that speech could be given. It is an honor. Where else could we find this level of freedom anywhere in the world?
That is why at the very top of this Capitol on the rotunda dome standing a full 20 feet tall is a statute called ``Freedom.'' It is a woman, and her name is Freedom. She stands as the uppermost point in this part of our Nation's Capital. She faces east because she faces toward the sunrise so that every day Freedom's face looks into the morning sun, and, happily, we begin yet one more day of liberty in this country.
You see, I am so proud to be a part of this Nation. I am so proud to be an American citizen because I recognize the costs of my freedom, the price that was paid for it by those who have gone before. I am so thrilled to have this opportunity.
Just behind me, Mr. Speaker, above where you are standing, is our Nation's motto. It says, ``In God We Trust.'' What a fabulous motto. Could any better motto be written for any nation to
declare full voiced that it is in God that we as a nation put our trust? What other more trustworthy venue could there be? What other trustworthy vehicle could there be than a holy God?
You see, it is not just today that we mouth these words. These words were mouthed by the Founders of our country, those who decided to leave the comforts of their home to come here to what was essentially an untested, untapped world where there were people, the Native Americans who populated this land, but where a brand-new culture was about to be born, one that would be again the fulcrum to bless the entire world, where people would know that they could come from any portion of the world and find freedom as individuals, but also as a nation.
We have so much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for. For many people who have never had the privilege of being in this House Chamber before, this is the room where the laws of our Nation are formulated. Our Founders meant that the House of Representatives would be the most powerful form of government. Why? Because it would be these 435 Members that we eventually became would hold the power of the purse. We would hold the Nation's credit card. It would be up to us to decide what we spent money on and what we didn't. We would formulate policy for what is now some 300 million-plus American people.
We are the lawgivers because the people of this country have given us the privilege of the election certificate to make the laws. We must never forget that it is by the consent of the governed that we rule and that we decide our laws.
As I look about this Chamber, we are ringed with the silhouettes of lawgivers throughout history--Hammurabi, various lawgivers throughout all of time, lawgivers for whom veneration is required. And yet only one lawgiver has the distinction of not having a silhouette but having the full face be revealed by the artist. That lawgiver is Moses. Moses is directly above the double doors that lead into the centermost part of this Chamber. In the face of Moses, his eyes look straight upon not only our Nation's motto, ``In God We Trust,'' but Moses' face looks full on into the face of the Speaker of the House.
Daily the Speaker of the House, as he stands up in his authority and in his podium, recognizes that he, too, is a man under authority, just as Moses was a man under authority. Because you see, Mr. Speaker, Moses is given for the full honor as the greatest lawgiver in this Chamber because he was chosen by the God that we trust to be entrusted with the basis of all law. The basis of all law, as was written by Blackstone, the famous English jurist, was the Ten Commandments that were given by none other than the God we trust on Mount Sinai. We know those laws. Those laws are the fundamental laws of mankind. And here in the United States, the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses are the very foundation of the law that has given the happiness and the rise of the greatest prosperity that any nation has known before.
Mr. Speaker, it could be no coincidence that this Nation, knowing and enjoying the heights of such great happiness and such great prosperity, could be built upon that foundation of the Ten Commandments and of the law given by the God in whom we trust. What a privilege we have been given. What an unparalleled foundation. We have so much to be grateful for and thankful for.
Before I continue my remarks, I want to also say thank you to people in their individual capacity who have done so much to help me in my service in the House of Representatives. I want to thank, first of all and most importantly, the people of the Sixth Congressional District of Minnesota who thought enough of my campaign to give me the election certificate that I have been privileged to hold for these four terms that I have served in office for 8 years. Had the people of the Sixth Congressional District not elected me to service, I would have never known what a privilege it would be to serve them here in this Chamber. I thank the great people of the Sixth District. It is known as Lake Wobegon country, the greatest people in this country as far as I am concerned--people where all of the men are good looking and the children are above average. It is a State unlike any other, and I am privileged to have served.
I also want to thank the many numerous volunteers who worked on my campaigns to send me here. Without their tireless work stuffing envelopes and serving on the campaigns and making phone calls, it never would have happened.
I was a homemaker at home with our family. I had been a Federal tax litigation attorney. I had had the privilege of starting a charter school. My husband and I started our own company, but I was essentially nobody from nowhere, and because people believed in me, they elected me, and they brought me here. I want to thank again the people of the Sixth District and the volunteers who sent me here.
I also want to thank the donors who very generously gave their money also so that I could be here. I had very hard-fought campaigns. I was often the top nemesis for the opposite political party in election after election, and millions of dollars were spent to make sure that I would not have the privilege of standing in the well of this House.
I want to thank those who gave me the money to be able to come and who sacrificed so that I could be here. Over the years my races were so expensive that at one point mine was the most expensive race in the country. That was done on an average donation of $41 per donation. Millions and millions of dollars with an average donation of $41.
I am so proud of that because real people across the United States saw in me an authentic, credible voice who was here to speak for them. I had people all across the country who said to me, Michele, thank you, you speak for me, and I am so thankful that you have fought for me here in Washington.
They knew that I wasn't here to speak for special interests. They knew that I wasn't bought and paid for. They knew that I was speaking for them. I want to say for those that did donate money to my campaigns, I am the same person today as I was when I came here 8 years ago, and I fought for you and for the values that you sent me here to fight for.
I also want to say thank you to the God who saved me. I am so grateful to the Holy God who created us, the Creator God, the God that Jefferson pointed to in the Declaration of Independence. It is because of Him and because He created me in His image and likeness, as He has each one of us, that I even have the possibility of coming here to be able to serve.
I also thank my parents, my father, who has passed away. I thank my mother, Jean LaFave, and my stepfather, Ray LaFave, for their love and their support over the years as well. I am thankful to my brothers, David and Gary and Paul, and my stepbrothers and my stepsisters.
I am thankful to my husband of 36 years, Marcus; to our five wonderful children, Lucas, and his wife, Christine; Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia; and also to our wonderful 23 foster children whom we were privileged to raise over the years. As I often joke, yes, I am the old woman in the shoe. I have raised 28 children, and I am so grateful for each one of them.
I am thankful for my very dear friends over the years who prayed for me and stood by me and helped me to get to this position, to my supporters from the great State of Minnesota, and most particularly to the prayer warriors. The very first committee that we formed every time I ran for political office was our prayer committee, and I thank you to the intercessors who prayed routinely for me. Those prayers I believe were answered.
I also say thank you to the men and women who serve today in our Armed Forces. It was the privilege of a lifetime for me to go and travel across the world to Iraq, to Afghanistan, to Germany, and various places around the world where I was able to meet you in your service, and I thank you for allowing me to meet you there.
I say thank you to our veterans who have gone before. You know how near and dear you are to my heart. I am the daughter of a veteran, stepdaughter of a veteran, sister of a veteran, and I am so grateful because I recognize we would not be here today if it wasn't for our veterans, and I thank you for your
service to our country because you answered the call.
I want to also say thank you to my staff:
My longest-serving staff member, Kim Rubin, who came with me on day one and who has served me every single day so superbly as my scheduler. There is no one quite like her, and I have absolutely no idea how I will order my life once I leave here without Kim Rubin.
I say thank you to my chief of staff, Robert Boland, who has stepped in and done a wonderful job with our well organized machine in our office. He makes it a joy for everyone in our office to serve.
I say thank you to my press communications director, Dan Kotman, who has done such a wonderful job every day challenging me to make sure that I can be as good as I can and to keep me from making the mistakes that I am all too prone to make;
For Mikayla Hall, who keeps me on the current edge in absolutely everything that she does, with a brilliant career in front of her;
For Renee Doyle, my dear longtime friend and legislative director, who has a heart of gold and who has served tirelessly in every form of her capacity;
For Jason Frye, Sergeant Frye, who has served our Nation as a veteran but who now will be a legislative director for my successor, and he will do a wonderful job serving.
For Kevin Wysocki, who has served me so well. I thank him, Mr. Speaker, for the brilliant, high-quality man of integrity that he is;
For Jessica Cahill, who has always been there to serve me in every possible capacity that she was asked to do;
For our intern Julie; for our district director Deb Steiskal, who has been so faithful to me during my time in service; for Barbara Harper, who has been with me through thick and thin through 16 years of activism and political life; for Nicole Severson Pelzer, who serves our veterans; for Karen Miller, who will continue to serve our district.
I am so grateful for the Capitol Police, for all that they have done to secure my safety; for the Sergeant at Arms; for our chaplains; our Bible study leaders; for the Clerk's Office.
I want to give a special shout-out to James, who runs the railroad car in the basement of the Rayburn Building. James has become a wonderful friend, a man of God, and we literally have tears in our eyes when we are saying good-bye to each other in these last days. He has brought joy to my heart, and I thank him as well as I thank Maria, who stands right out here outside the door. She has to fetch me all the time because I am usually the last one in the Chamber, trying to get more business done, and Maria says it is time to go, Congresswoman, and I thank God for Maria and what a darling that she has been.
I am grateful for the committee staff from the Financial Services Committee, on which I have been privileged to serve for 8 years, for the committee staff on the Intel Committee. No one knows how hard they work and what a vital service they play to our Nation.
I am grateful for Bonnie, the elevator lady, who is always so happy.
I am grateful for the two ladies at our lunch counter back in the cloakroom, to Ms. Pat and Ms. Doris. You are such good cooks, you make wonderful sandwiches, and I always knew that if I was short $2, you would see me through to the next day. So thank you for believing in my creditworthiness.
More than anything, I want to say thank you to the Founders of this Nation, who gave us the most incredible ride by believing in us and in our future, by recognizing that these truths are self-evident, that all men and all women are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What that means to me is this: no government gave me rights that only God can give, and no government can take away the rights that only God can give. The only reason that we even have a government and the only reason it was instituted among men is to secure for me and for you the rights that God gave us: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Beyond that, we rule by the consent of the governed.
This is a pretty simple gig to figure out here. There are things that government can't touch. Would that we would learn that. But there are things that we do, and those things that we do should be for the happiness of mankind. You see, it is our job not to think only of ourselves, but to think of the generations that are yet to come.
My favorite Americans are people who didn't know they were Americans. They were the Pilgrims. They came here before our Nation was founded. I love the story that was written by Governor Bradford. He wrote in his journal, which I have read in the King's English multiple times. The Pilgrims are one of my favorite groups of people.
Governor Bradford wrote that with the sorrow and the sacrifice that the Pilgrims made--you know, the very first year when they came over, fully half of them died in that first starving winter. Governor Bradford wrote that it was worth it all because the Pilgrims saw themselves, in his words, as stepping stones. He said they willingly laid down their lives and sacrificed themselves because they looked into the future, Mr. Speaker, and they saw you, and they saw me, and they saw all of the American generations that would come after them, and they saw what a marvelous land filled with natural resources, the ability to have freedom, a completely new covenant, a completely new promise that we could make with the future and with the God that we trust.
We could have here a brand new, ordered experiment in liberty, and we did. The generations benefited, and our generation has benefited like nothing before. And that is what we too must do.
As I wind down my remarks, I say thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you that I could have that privilege of also being a stepping stone to look to the future so that the next generation would live better than we do today. Thank you for the privilege.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.